A seal for a reciprocating application is typically used to seal liquid media and designed to be retained between a static surface and a dynamic surface, where the dynamic surface is translated back-and-forth in an axial direction, generating pulsating pressure.
Typical seal applications in which seals make such dynamic contact include reagent dispensing, and syringe pumps generating low to high or ultra high pressure, etc., such as several hundred pounds of pressure to several thousand pounds of pressure. In such applications, seals can deform or extrude due to the pulsating pressure.
Past solutions for such conditions include the use of rectangular and tapered support rings to fit within specialized retaining glands to try to block seal material extrusion. However, past solutions do not always support seal extrusion as well as prevent side-loading to the seal lip in contact with the dynamic surface of the piston.